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Woman charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide following overdose death

Suspect accused of causing death of 38-year-old man by selling him a mix of heroin and fentanyl.

Norwalk Reflector Staff

WILMINGTON

Sep 4, 2014

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Clinton County Sheriff Ralph Fizer Jr., and Clinton County Prosecutor Richard W. Moyer announced that a Wilmington woman is facing 13 charges, including involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide, after she allegedly sold drugs to a person who later died of an overdose.

Brandy Camp, 33, was arrested on Thursday after a Clinton County Grand Jury indicted her on multiple charges following an investigation by the Clinton County Sheriff's Office with assistance from agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) working as part of Attorney General DeWine's Heroin Unit.

Camp is accused of causing the death of Richard Campbell Jr., 38, in March 2014 after selling him a mix of heroin and fentanyl on which he later overdosed.

"This case should send a strong message to heroin dealers in this state that they will be held accountable if the drugs they sell cause a deadly overdose," DeWine said. "State and local law enforcement are taking the heroin epidemic very seriously, and we will not allow those who cause overdose deaths to get away with it unpunished."

“Many of the street level drug dealers claim they only deal drugs to feed their own addiction and as a result, often receive lighter sentences," Fizer said. "We feel it is time for these drug dealers, regardless of their reasons for dealing drugs, to be held accountable for their actions. In this instance Ms. Camp’s alleged actions resulted in the death of an individual.”

"If we are going to make progress in the drug epidemic then dealers at every level need to have serious consequences," Moyer said. "In my experience heroin dealers know exactly how much can be sold at a given time in order to stay at the lowest level of a felony. I believe we need to prosecute the drug dealers to the fullest extent of the law."

Camp is currently in the Clinton County Jail, unable to post a $50,000 bond.

Last week, DeWine sent a letter of support for House Bill 508 to State Representative Jim Butler (R-Oakwood), who introduced the bill in April. (NOTE: The entire letter can be seen by clicking on the link below.)

The bill calls to increase the criminal penalties currently allowed by law for those found selling a controlled substance that leads to an overdose death.

"By expanding the definition of murder to include individuals who proximately cause an overdose death through drug trafficking and creating enhanced penalties for these acts, this bill would provide a much-needed criminal deterrent, as well as accountability for the drug dealer's role in Ohio overdose deaths," DeWine wrote.

DeWine created the Heroin Unit in 2013 after statistics gathered by the Attorney General's Office revealed an increasing rate of heroin overdose deaths last year. In addition to providing investigative and prosecutorial assistance in connection with heroin trafficking investigations, members of the unit also provide expanded prevention outreach to communities struggling with heroin abuse and addiction.

Last month, the Attorney General's Heroin Unit assisted in an investigation that led to the arrest of several individuals suspected of orchestrating a major heroin operation in northeast Ohio, and grant funding provided as part of the Attorney General's efforts to fight heroin abuse is funding a heroin recovery pilot program in northwest Ohio that will be studied for potential use by other communities across the state.

So, if you sell some weed to someone they order dominos and choke too death your on the hook for murder over the munchies? People who buy serious drugs know the risk! If you go too war and die in combat, what do they say "you know the risk" if you die under the knife in surgery "you know the risk" nobody is held accountable. I guess drug dealers are gonna have to get waivers of liability now? So stupid